Georgia, South Carolina mountains mark 'Deliverance' anniversary

Films might portray residents as hillbillies, but they also bring along a lot of money.

ATLANTA — Four decades ago, the lush northeast Georgia mountains were introduced to the world in the hit film “Deliverance.”

Though many in the region still bristle at the movie’s portrayal of locals as uneducated, toothless hillbillies who sodomize visitors from the big city, the film helped create the $20 million rafting and outdoor sports industry along the Chattooga River, which splits Georgia and South Carolina and was the fictional Cahulawassee River in the movie.

What’s more, this year alone, multiple movies have filmed in the area because of the natural beauty first seen in “Deliverance,” including next year’s “Killing Season” with Robert DeNiro and John Travolta.

That’s why the communities along the Chattooga are celebrating the 40th anniversary of the movie’s release with this weekend’s first ever Chattooga River Festival.